Grass Demon

Grass Demon

Udaspes folus

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Kolkata

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%

14 Verified sightings at Kolkata
6 In 1 park From 2019 to 2026
September Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Grass Demon

Ancistroides folus, the grass demon, is a small but prominent butterfly found in India & Nepal that belongs to the skipper family, Hesperiidae. It is regarded as an occasional pest of ginger and turmeric plants. Male. Upperside black, the basal half of both wings covered with minute yellowish scales, markings pure white, semi-hyaline. Forewing with a large white spot filling up the end of the cell, two similar conjoined spots outwardly below it extending from beneath vein 4 to the sub-median vein, hardly separated from each other by vein 2; four conjugated sub-apical spots, the uppermost one minute, two similar spots below them nearer the outer margin, a small spot between these and the two large conjoined spots. Hindwing with a very large medial white patch with its margin sinuous all round; abdominal area covered with yellowish hairs. Underside paler. Forewing with the markings as on the upperside. Hindwing with the white medial patch extending to the abdominal margin from near the costa to one-third above the anal angle, the extension suffused with grey, also extending narrowly to the outer margin, double blackish-brown lunular marks, within the white space at... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kanha National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kozhikode 🇮🇳 India
~20%
2 Tuen Mun 🇨🇳 China
~20%
3 Jabalpur 🇮🇳 India
~20%
4 Thrissur 🇮🇳 India
~20%
5 Coimbatore 🇮🇳 India
~20%
6 Thiruvananthapuram 🇮🇳 India
~20%
7 Mumbai 🇮🇳 India
~20%
8 Kochi 🇮🇳 India
~20%
9 Bengaluru 🇮🇳 India
~20%
10 Ponnani 🇮🇳 India
~20%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Grass Demon in Kolkata?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Grass Demon sighting in Kolkata on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 108th most-seen of the 213 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Grass Demon in Kolkata?

August and September

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Grass Demon in Kolkata on a given day, against under 5% in April–May and November–February, the lowest months. Those are among Kolkata's wettest months, with about 280 mm of rain a month against 10 mm in December.

What time of day is best to see a Grass Demon?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grass Demon sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Kolkata the best place to see a Grass Demon?

19th of 26

Of the 26 cities where we can rate Grass Demon sightings, Kolkata ranks 19th at about 10%. The best odds are in Kozhikode (India, about 20%), Tuen Mun (China, about 20%) and Jabalpur (India, about 20%).

Which relatives of the Grass Demon live in Kolkata?

Same family: Hesperiidae

The closest relatives of the Grass Demon that you can see in Kolkata (family Hesperiidae, Skippers) are Indian Palm Bob (about 20%), Common Bush Hopper (about 10%) and Parnara naso (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Grass Demon sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Grass Demon is recorded against all the insects logged in Kolkata (14 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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